Playing with Fire
by Medie Shanachie
Summary: A simple job turns into so much more when he gets accosted in his hotel room.
1. Chapter 1

**Fandom:** Leverage  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own Eliot Spencer or Leverage. I do own this plot and the various OCs scattered through-out. Eliot doesn't belong to me...more's the pity. :-) Thanks to Dean Devlin and the creators of Leverage for giving us such a great playground!  
**Spoilers:** Mainly for Past Revealed--this takes place before that story and once again if you don't want to be spoiled for that...don't read this.  
**Rating:** PG-13 to NC-17  
**Author's Note:**I am still working on this, but I wanted to post the beginning...since I'm finally getting somewhere on this and think I might soon finish it. Plus Bri and Eliot together are so much fun! And I want to do a timeline for my Leverage stories, so needed to put this one up. I realized after I did the time line that I needed to add this one. Enjoy!

* * *

_"So how'd y'all meet?" --Hardison_

_"I met Eliot when I was hired to kill him. I decided it would be more fun to have sex with him. And then team up with him." --Bri_

He slipped the key card into the lock and let himself into his hotel room; trying to ignore the creepy, crawling sensation on the back of his neck. He'd completed his assignment, but was unable to get a flight out of Bonn until midnight. He'd decided to stay in the city until a later time and get some sleep.

Tossing the key card on the table, he dropped his jacket and was crossing the room when he noticed the curtains moving with the breeze. Reaching for the knife he had secreted behind the desk, he froze as he felt the cold kiss of steel against his neck. Slowly withdrawing his hand, he held them away from his sides. "I don't have anything you'd want," he said.

"I'm not here for something you have," a soft voice replied. The knife turned against him and he tried not to wince away. He preferred not to be on the wrong end of his own blades and he knew the feel of that edge. "I'm here for you."

"I'm a business man. What could I have that interests you?"

A snort came from behind him as the other person tried to hold in laughter. "A business man doesn't hide k-bars in his dresser," the voice answered and he knew it was female now.

"Depends on what type of business he's in," Eliot replied. "What are you doing here?"

"I know who you are, Eliot Spencer. And you've made my employer very unhappy."

"Oh, that's really a shame," he replied even as he winced inwardly at the sound of his name, and not the one he was using on this trip. Someone had done some good research on him. He could feel her behind him; knew she was just about his height, although probably a few inches shorter and obviously lighter. Stepping backwards, he slid his foot between hers and twisted.

She had been expecting him to try something so when he moved; she was almost ready. Their legs tangled and they both went down.

Her free hand flew upwards, driving towards his face and he jerked out of the way before she smashed his nose in. As he tried to grab the knife with one hand, he used his weight to pin her. "Who _are_ you?" he demanded. "Who sent you?"

She glared at him. "Get. Off. Me."

Eliot pinched the nerve in her wrist, forcing her to release the knife. Knocking it away, he handcuffed her hands with one of his. "Not until you answer my questions. Who are you? Who sent you?"

"Bri Dawson," she replied, but her eyes flicked downwards and to the side.

"You're lying," Eliot growled. "Name."

"It _is_ Bri," she insisted.

Eliot had watched her eyes closely this time and she didn't seem to be lying. Nodding once, he rolled off her and used his grip on her hands to haul her to her feet. Holding tightly to her, he asked, "So who sent you?"

A second before she moved, a wicked grin crossed her face. Then she was twisting within his grip and he was left holding empty air. "What the...?" he demanded as she backed away.

She struck out, slamming a foot into his midsection as he tried to recover from her break. Eliot gasped, but batted away the punch that followed. "I don't want to hurt you," he told her.

She snorted. "_You_ hurt _me_? Think again, bub. You might have some very pretty muscles, but I'm pretty sure I can take you."

"Look, I don't know why you're here or what you want...but I won't hit a woman."

She shrugged. "Makes my job easier." She dived for the knife, coming up in a roll, as he realized she was serious about killing him.

"All right. Bri." He held his hands up, figuring if he looked semi-defenseless he might have a better chance. "Bri. I dunno why you wanna skewer me, darlin', but it would really help if you told me who sent you."

She flipped the knife around until she was holding it by the point and he tensed, ready to dive if she threw it. "Don't 'darlin' me, you country fried hillbilly."

He dodged the knife as she released it, hearing it thunk into the wall behind him. Thanking his reflexes and her choice of his hidden knives, he tried to make a decision as she came at him in a flurry of blows; kicks and punches. He blocked the ones he could, accepted the hits when he couldn't and winced as she scored on him.

Catching her arm as she lashed out at him again, he twisted her around and locked her against him; her back to his front. Jerking his head out of the way as she tried to headbutt him, he said, "Knock it off. Or I'll forget everything my mama taught me and turn you over my knee."

When she struggled against him, he went with her movements; allowing her to wiggle, but not break free. Finally she wound down. "Fine. Okay. You win."

"I'm not lettin' you go," he warned her. "Cuz you're just gonna try to whack me in the head or something. Now. Who sent you?"

She heaved a sigh and he tried not to react as her breasts, small and pert, rubbed against his arm. "Anderson Cooper."

He froze at the name and she felt the change in his body. "Well, I hope you got paid up front, darlin', cuz he's the guy who hired me."

"Now _you're_ lying."

"What reason _exactly_ do _I_ have to lie to _you_?" Eliot asked. "You're the one trying to kill _me_. With _my_ knife I might add. What? You don't have your own?"

Bri mumbled something and when he shook her lightly, she repeated it, "I said I do, but not on me. I wasn't expecting you back so soon."

Eliot bit down on the laugh that wanted to escape at her admission. He didn't dare laugh; she was a hellcat only partially tamed and he didn't want to feel her claws again. "Why were you laying in wait if you didn't expect me back?"

"I wasn't." She wiggled a bit in his grasp, testing him. Eliot tightened his grip until she settled. "If I planned to kill you today, I would have been better armed and you wouldn't have seen me."

"So you're an assassin?" he questioned.

"Could you let me go?" she asked instead of answering him.

"What surety do I have that you won't try to kill me again?"

"Look, you've already proven you can easily overpower me. I don't have any weapons on me. You can frisk me if you want. I'd just rather talk to you face to face rather than to your arms. Especially if what you're saying is true."

"You strike out at me again and I won't be so nice next time," he warned. Releasing her slowly, he stepped quickly out of her range.

Bri rubbed her arms, attempting to restore feeling and motion to them. "You gonna frisk me, Spencer?" she asked.

Eliot took a moment to look her over now that he wasn't trying to fight her off. A honey-blond ponytail rode high and tight on her head. A tight black shirt curved along her body until it tucked into smooth black jeans which flowed into combat boots. The whole outfit, and the fact that she had been pressed against him a few minutes ago, didn't leave much to his imagination. The heels on the boots lifted her enough that she almost looked him in the eye. "Nah, I think I've got a pretty good idea of how unarmed you are." He motioned towards the chair across from him. "Sit."

"I am not a dog!" she snapped, but she slid into the chair.

He crossed his arms and glared at her. "You say Cooper hired you. To kill me?"


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Eliot Spencer or Leverage. I do own this plot and the various OCs scattered through-out. Eliot doesn't belong to me...more's the pity. :-) Thanks to Dean Devlin and the creators of Leverage for giving us such a great playground!

**Author's Note:** I am still working on this and I'm arguing with the two of them every step of the way, but I did get some more done! Special thanks go to SageK for her help with this chapter and especially one of Bri's lines. *grins* She knows which one.

* * *

She glared back at him. "Yes. He said you stole a statue from him."

Eliot snorted. "Retrieved a statue for him is more like it." He ran a hand through his hair, dislodging the tie he had in it. "Something fishy is going on. I completed the job as contracted and there were no hitches. Cooper's got no reason to want me dead."

She frowned. "I _don't_ like being lied to." When he started to protest, she held up a hand. "But I don't think you're the one lying." She stretched her legs out and then crossed one over top, leaning forward to rest her arms on them. She also gave Eliot a pretty good view down her shirt; something he didn't think was inadvertent. "If you did the job and turned it over, then why did he hire me to kill you?"

"That's what's confusing me," Eliot admitted, dragging his eyes away from her cleavage.

"_That's_ what's confusing you?" she exclaimed. "Nothing else?"

"Well, why you're coming after me. I mean I have a bit of a reputation." He gestured at her. "And you aren't exactly a typical gun for hire."

She smiled slowly. "That would be why I'm so successful." Standing up, she stretched and watched his eyes follow her movement. "Nobody expects the girl." She crossed her arms as she considered the situation. "Look, I doubt I'm the only one he sent after you. I'm not inclined to finish the job when I've been lied to, but I do want to know why he lied." She tilted her head. "You in or out?"

"And why should I trust you?" Eliot crossed his own arms. "You _did_ try to kill me."

Bri ran a finger down his bicep, enjoying the flex of muscle under the tip. "That was business, nothing more. Aren't your curious why someone who hired you to do a job--a job you completed satisfactorily I might add--tried to have you killed?"

"I am, but who says I can trust you at my back?"

"Look. Trust me or not, you can't stay here. Cooper knows you've been bunking here. And if you come with me, you've got a chance to go after him because I know where he moved to." She turned towards the door, willingly turning her back on him. "You've got five minutes."

Eliot clenched his hands. It would be so easy to grab her; knock her unconscious or snap her neck, but that went against everything he was brought up to believe. He couldn't hit a woman unless she attacked him first. "Give me a minute to throw some things together."

"Yeah. Okay." She turned, leaning against the door and watching as he quickly threw the few things he had unpacked into a bag. Clothes were quickly followed by a truly impressive array of knives and a few other items that she wondered about. When he zipped up the bag, she pushed herself away from the door. "I want to swing by my hotel and grab my stuff. It's not safe for me to stay there either."

"Fine. I'll meet you..." he started.

She shook her head. "Nah. It'll only take me a couple of minutes and since we're going to be working together, we might as well stay together." She grinned. "How do ya feel about getting' hitched?" Opening the door, she slipped through it.

Eliot grabbed his bag and hurried after her, catching up with her at the stairway. "Wanna run that one by me again?"

Bri opened the door and they started down the steps, keeping their voices down in the echoing stairway. "Cooper is expecting me to kill you and take off. He's not expecting us to team up and come after him. Posing as man and wife is a good cover."

Eliot had to admit she had a point. "Say I go for it...where are you planning to get the ID to back this play?"

"ID isn't an issue. I've got that." At his look, she added, "Don't ask cause I'm not going to tell you." Hailing a cab, she reached for the door at the same time he did. Backing off, she allowed him to open it for her and he tossed the bag into the trunk as he went around to the other side. As he slid into the seat, Bri was just finishing up giving the driver the address of the hotel.

* * * * * * * *

It was his turn to watch as Bri threw things into her bags; quickly gathering her belongings. Before she had started working, she tossed him a packet to look through. "So who's Cody Dawson?" he asked after he had flipped through the passport, license, and other ID that was in the envelope; there was even a library card. "Ex-lover?"

Bri turned from where she was reaching down behind the headboard. "No." She wiggled the last few centimeters and pulled out a thin stiletto. "He was my brother." Without turning around, she tucked the knife into a sheath that rode in the small of her back. Glancing around the room, she nodded once. "I've got everything."

Eliot wisely chose not to comment on her revelation about the ID she had handed him, instead choosing to point out, "The pictures don't match."

Bri threw her bag over her shoulder. "Easy enough to fix, but we need to get out of here. I gave Cooper a different name so we're good to use those IDs. There's no tie to me and Dawson."

"Yet you gave me Dawson," he commented as she pressed the elevator button.

She shrugged easily despite the weight of the bag. "Knee jerk reaction." She stabbed the button again, obviously impatient. She glanced around the hallway. "All right. Stairs. I'm not getting trapped here." Spinning on her heel, she stalked off towards the stairs which were not next to the elevator bank for some reason.

Eliot turned and followed, hustling to keep up with her long strides. He hit the stairs a few minutes after her, then almost ran into her as she stopped halfway down the first bank. "What the hell?" he demanded.

She waved a hand at the wall. "Surface is pretty close to a passport or license background. Stand against it."

Eliot did as instructed, holding still as she snapped three pictures with a camera she had pulled from a pocket on her bag. Handing the camera to him, she said, "Pick the one you want. I'll print it in the cab and affix it when we get to the new room."

* * * * * * * *

Thirty minutes later, Eliot found himself pacing a new hotel room while Bri patiently cut into the driver's license she had given him. She had already doctored the passport and it sat next to her cooling from being re-laminated. "So did you have some sort of plan?" he asked as his circuit took him back towards her again.

"Depends," she answered, not looking up from her work. "Did you meet Cooper in person?"

He shook his head. "Nope. Everything was through the phone. And I dropped the statue in a drop box and the money was wired into my account."

"Good."

"Why is that good?"

She motioned towards an envelope laying on the desk next to her. "Cooper's hosting a gala tonight. I was thinking we'd go in as guests, slip into his study, and get some information."

"What type of information are you thinking of?" he asked, slowing his pacing and coming to lean against the desk by her. Picking up the envelope, he slid the heavy paper out and tipped it to read it. "It's black tie, Bri."

"Yeah," she said absently. "I've got a dress. You got a tux or we need to find one for you?"

"Darlin'," he drawled, looking down at her, "do I look like the type of guy who carries a tux around?"

"Good point. Hand me the phone, would you?" she asked, as she set down the knife she had been using to cut the plastic with. After she dialed, she spun around in the chair, leaning backwards as she spoke to the concierge. A few minutes later she hung up. "All right we'll have it in like ten minutes. And a car will be waiting for us. I'm gonna change."

"You intending to take weapons?" he asked.

"I wasn't going to take a gun, but a few blades, yeah."

"I don't like guns," he growled.

She held her hands up. "Okay, don't burst a blood vessel. I prefer not to use them, but I have on occasion. They make good persuasion with some people." She opened the bag she had packed and began to pull things out, starting with a red dress. "We'll have to leave pretty quickly after we change to get there before it gets too much later."

"What information are you looking for?" he asked.

"I figured we would just take what we can get. Then we'll figure it out later." She pulled her shirt off and then shimmied out of her pants, ignoring Eliot's blink of surprise. "I'm not sure what exactly we're gonna find or want to do to Cooper so I figured we could take whatever's there."

"Ah, okay." He pointed at where she was digging through her bag again. "You know you're kinda, ah, naked, right?"

She glanced down. "I've still got underwear on, Spencer. It covers more than most bikinis."

"Yeah, but still...you're..." He turned away. "Could you put some clothes on, please?"

A muffled giggle came from behind his back, but also the rustle of material. "All right I'm decent."

When he faced her again, she was just smoothing out the wrinkles on a form-fitting dress. It followed her curves down her body, ending about three inches above her knees and hugging every inch it covered. Eliot swallowed, not entirely sure it was an improvement. Raking his eyes over her, he asked, "Where are you intending to hide weapons in that outfit?"

She held up a small knife, encased in a sheath. "This one fits against my thigh under the dress." Setting it on the bed, she picked up what looked like two sticks. "And these go in my hair."

"You're gonna have to use a lot of strength to drive those into someone," he pointed out.

"I would if not for this..." She set one of the sticks down and twisted the other, revealing that the ends came apart and a knife was embedded inside the wood.

Eliot held out a hand and she surrendered it to him. Studying it, he handed it back after a moment. "That's pretty ingenious, but where are you going to hide them?"

She grinned and pulled her hair out of the band. A few quick twists and deft movements and she was anchoring the style with the sticks. She pulled another two from her bag and used them to finish the updo. "In the hand, lethal weapons. In the hair, stylish accessories."

He opened his mouth to reply when a knock sounded from the direction of the door. "I'll get that."

She nodded, her attention on her leg. She had hiked up her skirt and was buckling the strap into place. As he turned away, she was re-adjusting it higher and he had another glimpse of the thong panties he had seen earlier.

Shaking his head, he opened the door to reveal a bellhop. "Your tux, Herr Dawson," the boy said, holding out a bag.

"Thanks," Eliot grunted as he accepted the bag.

When he went to give the boy a tip, he was waved off. "It's included in the room."

Eliot unzipped the bag and pulled the clothes out, looking them over. "How'd you know my size?" he asked.

Bri looked up from where she was fixing her shoes. "Just one of those things. Get changed so we can leave." When she saw he wasn't going to change right there, she shooed him into the bathroom.

A few minutes later, he reappeared, the tie in his hands. "Any idea what the hell to do with this?"

She smiled, ignoring the tug of lust at the sight of him cleaned up so well. He had slicked his hair back and clipped it at the nap of his neck. It wasn't quite long enough to make a full ponytail, but he was able to tie it back. He leaned down and her nimble fingers did up the tie, straightening and fussing with it until she was satisfied. "There. I think you look like a wealthy oil man now," she said as she stepped back. She handed him a wallet and he flipped it open to see another set of id; this one in the name of Devon James.

"And who are you?" he asked as he tucked the wallet into the inside jacket pocket.

Her whole continence changed and she swayed slightly on her heels; tilting her head to one side. "Why y'all are too too kind to invite Devie and me to your big castle. I have never seen anything quite so gi-normous before," she breathed.

Eliot stared at her, not sure which was creeping him out more; the almost pitch perfect Southern accent coming out of her mouth or the airhead that was now standing in front of him. Deciding the Southern was the lesser of the two evils, he pointed out, "That accent is a little to perfect to be fake."

She shrugged, turning around and scooping up the clutch purse that had been laying on the bed. "I was born and raised in Alabama. Ran away when I was sixteen. It comes back when I need it. You ready?"

He offered her his arm. "Just do me a favor?"

"Sure. If I can."

"Don't call me Devie again."

* * *

_Author's End Note: Okay just so y'all don't freak out about Eliot trusting Bri too fast...he doesn't trust her. But he wants Cooper, so at the moment he's using her. :-) We'll see what happens._


	3. Chapter 3

All right I have been getting a lot of alerts for things on here, which I am assuming means people are not taking a look at my profile. Completely understandable, but I feel kinda bad that y'all are alerting things and never going to get an update for them…sorry, but I'm not posting on here anymore. Mostly because my multiple personalities are taking over my brain and making it difficult for me to keep track of things.

The main reason this account is still active is I have friends who post on here and I like to be able to comment to them when they post something new or help them out with things. Sooo with that in mind, I'm copying what I posted in my profile and posting it in each of the unfinished stories:

Okay so my multiple identities are now taking over my brains and I am not sure who I am or where I'm going. Joke! But I am trying to get all my writing condensed down into two accounts. With that in mind...I will not longer be posting here. Nothing new is going to go up here or will be finished here. If something is incomplete, it will either not be finished or it will be moved over to my livejournal account. I'm not going to take anything down, but I am not going to be adding to anything either.

If you would like to find me on the web from now on:

my **fanfiction** will be on live journal under the name shanachie_quill at http: /shanachie-quill .livejournal .com/

my **original fiction** continues to be on under the name medievalgirl at **http:/ www. writing. com / authors/ medievalgirl**

Copy and paste the websites to use them and remove the spaces (sorry refuses to let people post URLs that are not internal).

With that in mind, I also want to let people who have been asking know what of my incomplete work will or will not be finished or what I hope to finish. So of the following stories...here is what I am hoping/planning.

**Life Lessons**-I intend to finish this (although I'm not sure when)

**School Days**-I do not intend to finish this

**Not What He Wanted**—At this point in time I'm not planning to finish it, that doesn't mean I won't, but I'm not going to work on it at this moment—I screwed up the back story and I need to fix it

**Past Revealed**—At this point in time I'm not planning to finish it, that doesn't mean I won't, but I'm not going to work on it at this moment—I screwed up the back story and I need to fix it

**SGA2 Saves the World**-I'd like to finish this, but I've kinda lost my SGA muse...so if I can find him again...I shall

**The Handbook to InterAgency Co-Operation**—I'm considering emailing my co-author and seeing if I can just plow through the last couple of chapters and finishing it…I'll get back to y'all on this

**Through the Looking Glass**-This is not going to be finished at this time

**Playing with Fire**—At this point in time I'm not planning to finish it, that doesn't mean I won't, but I'm not going to work on it at this moment—I screwed up the back story and I need to fix it

Okay so not as many as I feared, but more than I thought...if that made any sort of sense. Hope to see y'all over at one of my other identities. I won't be closing this account because I do have friends that write on here and I'd like to be able to leave them reviews and such...but like I said I won't be posting here anymore.

I think that's everything, if you have any specific questions feel free to PM me.


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